SEO in: How AI will change search results

The rapid development of artificial intelligence is amazing; it is being implemented in many tools, which entails changes in the usual way of working processes.

And SEO is no exception. Of course, AI has already impacted search results and will lead to an even greater transformation of ranking processes. But should we panic?

We discussed the “hot” topic with industry experts.

Will artificial intelligence ruin SEO?

Before discussing all the changes, let's recall some basic points.

1. SEO itself is a process of developing a certain hypothesis, experimenting with its implementation, obtaining a result, fixing it and scaling the experience with a successful outcome.

2. SEO may not be afraid of AI “attack”. Of course, it will be modified and modernized, but as long as people have where and what to look for, they should not subject it to oblivion.

Regarding the modification.

Currently at the peak of popularity are search experience optimization (SXO - a union of SEO and UX, which makes the site relevant to the expectations of its visitors in terms of content, appearance and functionality) and answer engine optimization (AEO, the process of optimizing content by displaying specific fragments of it for certain queries users).

This fact alone confirms that SEO specialists will not be left without work even in the era of artificial intelligence.

We are sharing a checklist with which you can check the usability of your website for common errors and more (!).

3. It is worth remembering that the main goal of SEO is to bring more traffic and get better rankings. Of course, compared to competitors;

4. But there is no “magic recipe” for this. All processes, including work on the site, depend on the field of business and its features in terms of product, audience, restrictions, etc. And, of course, from the actions of competitors;

5. The main ranking factors in search engines are content (text factors) and behavioral factors.

We would like to note that search engines have been using artificial intelligence in the analysis process for a long time. With its help they:

• analyze user search queries. This is necessary for a clear understanding of the subject of the search and the intentions of the audience;
• track people's interactions with search results;
• take into account and evaluate new types of content: video, audio, interactive. For example, previously a specialist placing an advertising banner needed to include an alt tag. Now this action is not necessary, because the AI ​​is able to “read” its contents;
• personalize search results more effectively;
• filter spam and low-quality content.

AI Content

But how do search engines treat content created using artificial intelligence?

We share an excerpt from search engine rules regarding content from AI:

We can draw a certain conclusion: search engines put the quality and reliability of the material first, but who wrote it is not so important.

Creating interesting content for a B2B audience is still a headache. We have written in other materials how to make it easier.

And, of course, our team also follows trends, so we experimented with AI, hoping to create material for the client with its help. We shared the insights we received in this article. Spoiler: AI will never replace an expert.

The quantity is growing, but the quality is deteriorating

Let's be honest, the advent of artificial intelligence has led to an increase in the volume of content, but at the same time to a significant decrease in its quality.

Unfortunately, many people create material just for the sake of its availability, without thinking about the quality and benefit to the audience. And, as we said above, search engines filter low-quality content so that users see only relevant and correct results in the search results.

Let's remember the content evaluation factors:

• E-E-A-T - expertise, experience, authoritativeness and trust;
• originality;
• reputation of the site and brand.

So search engines will soon be faced with such a “pitfall” - a huge amount of data to process, growing “by leaps and bounds” (number of content, sites, etc.), and companies, accordingly, with:

• more complex search engine algorithms, because the number of low-quality materials is increasing, therefore, the check will be more and more thorough;
• improving the quality of content analysis by search engines.

Forecasts for the year

No global changes are expected in the near future. But, of course, you need to monitor search engine updates.

For most search engines, links remain on a “pedestal”.

But, perhaps, the importance of search results factors will decrease, because this is a kind of bug of the search engine algorithm. However, this does not mean drastic changes, rather there will be improvements in algorithms.

But it's not that simple. If the influence of some factors decreases, others will come to replace them, for example:

• commercial;
• search engines on the site itself (don’t forget about usability and user experience on the site);
• links;
• brand reputation and off-site reviews.

And you can be sure that the quality of the content will have a practically decisive role, regardless of the format and type.

Getting ready and adapting

To also use SEO effectively and attract organic traffic, adapt to changes and do better:

• automate your workflows to the maximum and use AI. By entrusting routine tasks to artificial intelligence, you will save specialists’ time, and they, in turn, will spend it on processing more complex and creative processes.
• use AI capabilities to analyze, for example, target audience. The results obtained can be used to optimize promotion;
• work hard on the content: update and update, delete what cannot be updated, make sure that the site materials comply with the needs and requests of the target audience.

You can conduct an SEO audit of your website and check it point by point using our free checklist.

Chatbots guard the interests of users

Chatbots can bring fundamental changes to search processes.

In particular, this technology is useful to users because with it search:

• natural and comfortable. The user does not enter a query into the search bar, but asks the chatbot, moreover, using “live” and familiar formulations, and does not limit himself to phrases;
• personalized. The chatbot provides relevant information using user information;
• useful. With a chatbot, a user can solve a more complex problem than searching for material. For example, make an appointment with a doctor or book a plane ticket.

Search engines actively use this tool, and in our opinion, it will be actively developed in the near future.

SEO: important nuances to consider

Let's talk about SEO development trends that deserve special attention:

• RU-segment traffic is accumulated in the largest search engines, and in the foreseeable future